Odd how this 1930s brick building I'm in right now hasn't crumbled apart, or even cracked from settling to any noticeable degree.

I'm guessing you've not been alive long enough to see the required maintenance that has been preformed on said building. People tend to miss and ignore things that aren't part of their profession

I have bricklayers and carpenters in my friends and family, and I've been on the association board for the building, for the last 10 years.

So I know quite well what kind of maintenance is needed. We replaced the entire 6000sqm tiled roof last year, it was the original roof, 80 years old.

The maintenance needed on a brick building is fraction of what's needed on a wood building.